


Echoes In My Head

by Estirose



Category: The Tomorrow People (1992), The Tomorrow People (2013)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-16
Updated: 2013-12-16
Packaged: 2018-01-04 19:47:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1085007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stephen talks to one of his counselors, a woman he can't read.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Echoes In My Head

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadySilver](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadySilver/gifts).



Stephen stepped out of the empty counselor's office, swearing under his breath. He was sure that the whole school had heard him struggling to open the door, but to his relief, nobody was coming to investigate. He took a deep breath, wishing that he'd go and figure out this teleporting thing already so that he stopped landing in weird places.

A door creaked open, causing Stephen to start swearing again. Lies Mizushima, one of the part-time counselors, poked her head out. "Oh, Stephen. Do you need help?"

He liked Mrs. Mizushima. Most of the other counselors didn't know what to do with him, same as all the teachers, but she seemed to take him in stride. As an added bonus, he couldn't read her and she didn't throw thoughts at him. Even now, she seemed to radiate a calm, empty feeling.

"Probably." But it wasn't something she could give. On the other hand, what she could give him was a late pass. And maybe he'd find some refuge in her office, even if he couldn't talk about what was going on.

"Come in, then." She let him into the office, closing the door behind them. "I was just doing paperwork anyway."

He sat down in the visitor's chair, letting his gaze settle on the picture of the counselor and her family – herself, an Asian man, and a mixed-race girl of about eight with skin almost as dark as her mom's. He remembered her mentioning that mental illness ran in her family. A muscle in her cheek twitched as she looked fondly at the picture.

Stephen suddenly wondered if she had, at one point, heard voices and teleported in her sleep. And if she hadn't been imagining things, but always assumed she had. Maybe he should talk to John and Cara, when they started talking to him again. He refused to accept that it might be an "if".

"How are you feeling, Stephen?" Lies asked. She always encouraged him to think of him as "Lies" – pronounced "Lee-ess", thank you very much - not Mrs. Mizushima.

"Better. The medication seems to be working." He couldn't tell her that he didn't need it, and she probably didn't either.

She sighed, opening her mouth and closing it again. "That's what matters." She looked over at him, as if to convey a message. Maybe she was one of his people, having managed to stay out of sight by hiding her powers and taking medication. John and Cara probably did know about her.

"Yeah." Mentally shaking his head, he knew that the whole thing was stupid.

"Good. Just remember… you are not alone."

He could have laughed. It occurred to him that she'd been telling him all this time to hang on until someone could find him.

"Don't laugh, my friend Hayley always told me that when I got depressed." She gave him a grin.

Counselors and teachers weren't supposed to have friends and family. At least that's what students always assumed. But Stephen knew about her friend in some rinky dink ocean town in California, how they called each other every week. Lies had told him about her friends, as if to convince him to avoid alienating his own.

"I'm just happy that I've stopped hearing voices." That he could say honestly, more or less. Even if it was because everybody had cut him off, he'd at least found he was normal. And maybe John and everybody else would stop being stupid and talk to him.

There was a distant look in Mrs. Mizushima's eyes, as if remembering something, but she was only quiet for a moment. "That's good. I'm glad you finally found medication that works for you."

"Yeah. It makes things so much better." Or would, if it was the actual thing working, instead of him just learning to block. He'd learned a little when he was with John and Cara and the others.

"Good. Maybe you'll be able to find new friends." She sighed, but he doubted he was the reason for it. She was caught up in memories that he couldn't see, and somehow wished he could.

"Maybe." If he could get anybody talking to him again. Just because he knew he wasn't crazy didn't mean that the rest of the school didn't know that fact. And he had to keep it a secret anyway.

"Sometimes, you have to work at it." She folded her hands, smiling at him. "Don't give up, Stephen. Keep going."

"I know." What else could he say to that? She was trying to tell him something, and doing very badly. But he couldn't say anything here; better to convince the others to talk to him, and then he'd find out about Lies Mizushima, who she was and how long she'd been hiding.

He wondered if he could truly live without powers as she might be doing. She was probably alone in her own head, like he was right now. Still, he couldn't see himself doing that forever.

No Tomorrow Person would want to do that forever, or at least he doubted it. Nobody would give up their powers to be so mundane.

Suddenly, he wished he could read her. But she was still that same black emptiness, that not-there feeling. He didn't dare think at her, for fear of exposing her if she was one of the Tomorrow People.

"My mother gave me that speech once." There was a small grin there. "And my own high school counselor. I hope you'll listen, Stephen."

"I will." He wouldn't give up. He would find his father using ULTRA's resources, make it safe for every single one of them. That included Lies Mizushima, if she was one of them. 

"In the meantime, I'll give you a late pass if you promise to try to find friends, Stephen." There was a look that said that this was something her counselor had told her, too.

"I will. I'll introduce my new friends to you sometime, too." Then, maybe, she could stop hiding and he'd have another ally on his side. Another person who he could speak to and who would truly understand him.

She nodded. "I'll hold you to that promise," she said, taking a pad of paper out of her desk. Taking a pen, she scribbled on it and tore it off, handing it to Stephen. 

He grinned, taking the pass and hurrying towards class. He had a lot of things to do.


End file.
